-Caveat Lector-
from: AMERICAN ATHEISTS
subject: AANEWS for June 8, 1999
A M E R I C A N A T H E I S T S
AANEWS
#584 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 6/8/99
http://www.atheists.org
ftp.atheists.org/pub/atheists/
http://www.americanatheist.org
---------------------------------------------
A Service of AMERICAN ATHEISTS
"Leading The Way For Atheist Civil Rights
And The Separation Of State and Church"
----------------------------------------------
In This Issue...
* Judge upholds discriminatory Mass. amendment
* Aderholt: Ten Commandments back for round two!
* Party hearty at the Solstice!
* Pennsylvania vouchers -- "state sponsored discrimination"
* Resources
* About this list...
NEIGHBORS LOSE ROUND IN EFFORT TO STOP TEMPLE
A U.S. District Court has ruled against a community group in Belmont,
Mass. which had sought to prevent construction of a mammoth,
70,000-square-foot Mormon temple in their residential neighborhood.
Judge Douglas P. Woodlock ignored legal arguments by attorneys G.
Michael Pierce and Mark White which included the LEMON v. KURTZMAN
case that enjoins government from advancing religion or falling into
"excessive entanglement" with faith-based groups. The plaintiffs had
challenged a state law exempting churches and other religious
organizations from most zoning and land use restrictions. Attorneys
argued that the Dover Amendment, enacted in 1950, violated the U.S.
Constitution and clearly aided religion.
"If an atheist group wanted to put up a structure in Belmont, they
couldn't," said Mark White, paraphrasing Justice John Paul Stevens in
the historic BOERNE v. FLORES case. "You basically have no control
over religious issues. This has been a sore spot in many cities and
towns in the commonwealth of Massachusetts."
But Woodlock declared that the plaintiffs' arguments were "without
merit," and defended the 1950 zoning exemption law as designed to
"prevent discrimination against land uses for religious purposes."
In this case, the state of Massachusetts was defended by attorneys for
the Utah-based Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, the
Mormons. Ken Harvey, representing the LDS, praised the decision,
adding "We look at this as, first of all, we're pleased the federal
court has chosen to uphold the Dover Amendment ... We're hoping that
this is the end of it -- and this particular suit will go away."
A second related suit is challenging the Belmont Board of Zoning
Appeal's decision to allow the LDS church to top its temple, now under
construction, with a 139-foot high steeple. That height exceeds the
permitted standard of 72-feet. Local residents charged, "that the
town violated its own special permitting authority and misapplied a
special exemption for churches to the project."
Church leaders from the LDS capital of Salt Lake City, Utah, flew in
to Boston for the formal ground breaking ceremony in June, 1997.
Originally, the Mormons planned to construct a three-story,
94,100-square-foot temple with six spires, but scaled those plans back
when community leaders protested. Residents said that the enormous
structure in the midst of their neighborhood would result in increased
noise, traffic, and congestion, and threaten both quality of life and
property values. For over a year, they protested construction; church
authorities proceeding with the building, though, prompting one of the
neighborhood residents to charge that the Mormon action was "a tactic
of intimidation and attempt to change the momentum in their favor."
John Foster told the Boston Globe newspaper, "We expected that this
might happen, even though they kept telling us they were negotiating
with us as good neighbors, because this is how they got their meeting
house built over the town's objections 20 years ago. In that
instance, even though they were denied a parking lot permit, they
built their structure and then sued the state successfully for the
parking lot."
The zoning board worked out what it considered to be a compromise,
allowing a 70,000 square-foot edifice with a single 139-foot high
steeple.
Attorneys Pierce and White told AANEWS that their legal brief centered
on a number of judicial precedents, including the three-prong test of
LEMON v. KURTZMAN, as well as TEXAS MONTHLY, INC. v. BULLOCH. In
the latter decision, Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun opined that
the government could exempt religious publications from sales taxes,
but only if it applied equal treatment for "philosophical literature
distributed by nonreligious organizations devoted to such matters of
conscience as life and death, good and evil, being and nonbeing, right
and wrong." Mark White noted that Judge Woodlock seemed to be giving
"no serious consideration for the impact of having a special policy
for religious groups on matters pertinent to zoning."
"Woodlock argued that the Dover Amendment was constitutional since it
protected parochial schools," White added. "We are not saying that
these (churches) should be prohibited from going in. What we are
saying is that cities and towns should have some say when they do go
in."
Mr. White told AANEWS that the plaintiffs will likely appeal the case
to the U.S. First Circuit Court of Appeals.
**
ADERHOLT PLANS NEW TEN COMMANDMENTS DEFENSE ACT
Rep. Robert Aderholt announced this past weekend that he will
reintroduce his Ten Commandments Defense Act, which would give states
and local governments the authority to display the Decalogue on public
property. Two years ago, the Alabama Republican authored a
non-binding resolution passed by the House of Representatives which
supported the display of the Commandments. Aderholt said he crafted
the legislation in support of Etowah (Alabama) County Judge Roy Moore,
who had been ordered to stop opening judicial proceedings with an
invocation and to remove a hand-carved Decalogue plaque which he had
placed above his bench.
Moore was recently cited by the Alabama Ethics Commission for
impropriety in connection with contributions sent in to his legal
defense fund.
Aderholt told the Birmingham News that he already has a promise from
House Judiciary Committee Chairman Henry Hyde (R-Ill.) to begin
hearings on the new bill during the current legislative session. "I'm
optimistic about it," gushed Aderholt. "You know I would say that,
but you remember the Ten Commandments resolution passed by an over
two-thirds vote. This legislation is a little different. It needs
only a majority."
Inciting Religious Divisions?
Aderholt's bill is sure to inflame passions on both sides of what has
become an increasingly divisive issue throughout the country -- the
public display of sectarian religious symbols. Several Christian
groups have announced their plans to ask all county governments
throughout the nation to display the Commandments in public buildings,
including meeting chambers and schools. Opponents insist that this
violates the separation of church and state, and endorses a sectarian
brand of religion.
Jim Senyszyn, an American Atheist activist in Charlotte, N.C. is a
veteran of several battles over displaying the Commandments in public
venues, and warns that the motivation for such proposals is "strictly
religious." He opposed a call to display the Decalogue in the
Charlotte Government Center building, charging that "the proposal was
inspired by the preaching of an evangelical minister" rather than any
legal, historical or arts group. Senyszyn also notes that in 1980,
the U.S. Supreme Court case of STONE v. GRAHAM discarded a Kentucky
law which required the Ten Commandments to be displayed in public
school classes. Federal District Courts struck down similar displays
in cases like HARVEY v. COBB COUNTY, GA. (1993) and ANDERSON v.
SALT LAKE CITY (1972).
Last year, Aderholt's Ten Commandments Defense Act was sidetracked by
the House Judiciary Committee which was immersed in debate over the
impeachment of President Clinton. The climate on Capitol Hill may be
more favorable now, however, especially with both parties rushing to
lay claim to "values" and public testaments of religiosity. With Vice
President Gore calling for a "New Partnership" between church and
state, few Democrats may be willing to take a principled line against
Aderholt's bill. The proposal is also reportedly a favorite of the
"Values Action Team" of House Republicans who promote a religious
right culture war agenda on the Hill. Indeed, the TCDA could become a
political litmus test in the year 2000 elections which few hopefuls
for public office dare not pass.
**
CELEBRATE SUMMER SOLSTICE AT THE CENTER!
Join the fun at our annual Summer Solstice Party on Sunday, June 27,
at the new American Atheists Center in Cranford, N.J. Members and
supporters of the organization are welcome; we'll have bar-b-q with
all the fixings, but this is a potluck lunch and everyone is being
asked to RSVP early and, if possible, bring a dish. For more
information, check out the New Jersey American Atheist web site at
http://www.atheists.org/nj/, or contact Joe Zamecki at the Center,
(908)-276-7300.
**
PENNSYLVANIA VOUCHER PLAN UNDER ATTACK: LEGALIZES
RELIGIOUS DISCRIMINATION
Voucher schemes being promoted by Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge
would allow private and religious schools benefiting from state aid to
discriminate when choosing which students to admit. That fosters what
State Sen. Robert J. Mellow describes as "state-sponsored
discrimination."
In a piece appearing in today's Philadelphia Inquirer newspaper,
critics lambasted the Ridge proposals, and noted that they offer
students little or no protection from discriminatory admissions
policies at religious schools. Rep. Dan Frankel (D-Allegheny)
charged that private and sectarian groups which establish schools and
obtain voucher money "will not open up their door indiscriminately...
They will take the cream from our public schools and further condemn
our public schools." He mused whether such school would "accept a
child with attention deficit disorder and a $2,000 voucher."
Larry Frankel of the state Civil Liberties Union noted that the
Pennsylvania voucher plan is worse than one recently enacted in
Florida, where students must be accepted "on an entirely random and
religious-neutral basis without regard to the student's academic
history."
"If we are going to have a voucher program," he added, "we want it to
provide opportunities and access for every student. Pennsylvania's
plans don't guarantee that."
The Pennsylvania proposals seem to confirm the worst charges being
made by voucher critics, including the accusation that the programs
encourage private and religious schools to "cherry pick" the best
students, leaving the rest for cash-strapped public school systems.
The Inquirer noted, for instance, that of the 236 Roman Catholic
Schools controlled in a five-county Philadelphia area by the
Archdiocese of Philadelphia, only 13 have programs for
learning-disabled children. "Only a handful provide services for
physically handicapped students or non-English-speaking students,"
noted the paper. Quaker schools were not much better; only three of
their 26 schools in the same area had special programs.
Another charge that voucher critics are making in Pennsylvania and
elsewhere is that even with enormous public aid programs, private and
sectarian schools cannot possibly come close at the present time to
admitting all of the students allegedly seeking admission. The
Inquirer noted that private schools in the area, including the
parochial system, "have far more applicants than empty desks," and
thus have "an extremely competitive admissions process, with children
taking rigorous academic tests and participating in interviews to win
a seat." Public schools, however, must take all students including
those with disabilities and other problems; critics charge that this
"stacks the deck" against secular education when voucher are
implemented.
**
RESOURCES FROM AMERICAN ATHEISTS...
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articles from the current or back issues, as well as special web-only
features. Visit us at http://www.americanatheist.org
* If you are a current member of American Atheists, sign up for our
e-mail discussion group, aachat. We have over 120 participants who
discuss topics such as Atheism, religion, First Amendment issues and
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